Geely became the owner of Lotus

3 October 2017

The Chinese company bought a 51 % of the shares of the manufacturer of sports cars

Chinese and Indian companies have long "laid eyes" on the European car manufacturers. In 2008 Tata bought Jaguar Land Rover, and in 2010, Geely became the owner of Volvo Cars. Feeling the taste, Geely acquire another brand with a rich history — Lotus.

The legendary British brand, which traces its history back to 1952, went to the giant from China at a ridiculous price — just $ 65 million. In exchange for this amount Geely got 51 % share, the remaining share (49 %) owned by Malaysian Automotive Etika.

But do not think that now Lotus will cease to be a British brand. Formally, the company has since 1986 roams the hands of foreign investors, the first of which was General Motors. 1996 "Lotus" was owned by Malaysian manufacturer Proton. By the way, along with Lotus, the Chinese also bought a 49.9 % Proton Holdings.

From now chief financial officer of Geely Daniel Lee (Daniel Li) becomes Chairman of the Board of the British company. In addition, representatives of the Chinese group took two seats out of five in the Board of Directors. At the same time, Lotus CEO Jean-Marc gales (Jean-Marc Gales) retained his seat.

Experts believe that Geely will follow the same strategy in relation to the Lotus that she is practicing with the Volvo. This means that the British brand will keep not only the staff but also the relative freedom of action for the British. While Lotus may receive additional funding that will go to the development of new models.

It is expected that now the British brand is finally able not only to expand the model range, but also to go to new markets. For example, in 2006 there was presented the concept of Lotus APX crossover, but soon the project went on the shelf. Maybe soon the old idea will be revived.